By Harry Hutchings BSc. AMPS Timberland Watergarden

This article was originally published in the International Water Garden Society journal, The Water Garden Journal, and has been published on this site with the kind permission of Harry Hutchings and the International Water Garden Society 

The United Kingdom (UK) climate is not suitable for tropical waterlily cultivation outdoors. Please, however, do not overlook the beauty of these plants. It is not too expensive to create a stunning display.
I have 5 glasshouses of sizes from 6 ft. x 8 ft. up to 12 ft. by 24 ft. I also utilize the much cheaper poly tunnel option in which I have many 1m x 3m fiberglass tanks as used by aquarium and pond suppliers to keep their fish. However, the glasshouse pond gives the more presentable display.The Harry Hutchings tropical garden plan
A good size as a start is 10 ft. x 12 ft. Please avoid the cheap spring clip glazing types. Go for the glasshouses with strip sealed glazing. These have better security against high winds and also have a construction that allows the use of the expanded polystyrene sheets for internal insulation.
A pond needs to be excavated and a liner used. Choose butyl with under liner if you can afford it. If not, at least choose a liner that will withstand a lot of foot traffic. Your tropical lilies will need a lot of attention, as you will see later.
If you can, orientate your glasshouse with your door facing south. This will allow the garden section to be on the north face, which is essentially at the back. Construct the pool size 8 ft. wide by 10 ft. long. 18 inches deep is sufficient for most tropical waterlilies. A margin of 15 inches at the back is filled with a mixture of peat and sterilized loam based topsoil. The side 12-inch wide strips are filled similarly. A front 9-inch margin is to be used for the equipment. I construct the pool using 3 inch deep x 2 inch wide treated softwood to form the frame to which I nail the liner...this allows me to use “decking” cut to 9 inch lengths for the front equipment strip. Using a similar strip of treated wood as the front support, I insulate the north face (the back) and the east and west (sides) back panels with white expanded polystyrene sheets. Those sold in the trade-building store around 1/2-inch thick you will find slide nicely into the internal upright pillar recesses. This is not possible with the cheaper spring clip glazing models I mentioned earlier. I also cover the back two roof panels either side with UV protected bubble polythene sheeting using twist ties to secure it. Despite the UV protection treatment, this will need replacing every few years so have some planks of wood handy to span the pond for this maintenance.

Q. My wife and I recently bought a very expensive and extremely heavy ‘stone’ ornament recently for our patio consisting of three bowls in a tier topped with a small figure. It was delivered as a dismantled set of bowls and pedestals with some very rudimentary instructions in regard to setting it up and getting it going. After we struggled for what seemed an interminable nightmare, trying to get it up and running, the thing now seems all ‘cock-a-hoot’ with water shedding out the side of two of the bowls and running down the bottom.It seems to me that the ornament itself is distorted since despite starting on a level patio and then getting it all the bits to fit securely, the bowls themselves are not level.

A. I always feel that retailers that sell these large ornaments should provide a free installation service. You probably have an ornament moulded out concrete, usually referred to a ‘reconstituted stone. These are cast in moulds made of latex with some fairly rudimentary fibreglass support. The concrete is poured into the base of a unit and vibrated into place. The weight of it can fractionally distort it in a very slightly different way each time it is poured. If you have a team of people that are used to the small distortions of the individual units, they can easily deal with them during various stages of construction of the fountain ornament. But this is the first and last time you expect to put this ornament up and you want to get it right first time with no experience. Right?

Take the fish in the plastic bag you purchased them to the pool as quickly as possible.
Float the bag in the water for 15-30 minutes so that the temperature of the water in the bag can adjust to that of the pool.
The top of the bag can be opened and rolled down to form a float that will keep the bag upright. Whilst it is floating slowly introduce several cupfuls of pool water so that the fish can acclimatise to the new water chemistry. This further reduces the possibility of stress.